Peel and mince the shallot; transfer
to a medium bowl and season with
salt. Juice the lemon into a small
liquid measuring cup, then add
enough vinegar to measure 80ml in
total. Pour the lemon-vinegar
mixture over shallot. Let sit while you
prep the remaining ingredients.
Thinly slice the cornichons into
rounds and place in a small bowl.
Smash and pit the olives, then tear
the flesh into small pieces; add to
the bowl. Pluck the parsley leaves with some tender stem attached,
then gather them up on your cutting
board and thinly slice into ribbons
(save the remaining parsley stems for
making stock). Set cornichon-olive
mixture and parsley aside separately.
Bring a medium pot of water to
the boil over high heat; fill a medium
bowl with ice and water. Lower eggs
into boiling water and cook for 7
minutes for jammy yolks. Use a
slotted spoon or mesh spider to
transfer eggs to ice water and let
cool; reserve both ice water and
boiling water.
Snap off woody ends of the
asparagus, then peel bottom
two-thirds of stalks. Season boiling
water very generously with salt. Add
the asparagus and cook until bright
green and crisp-tender, 3 minutes.
Transfer to ice bath to cool, then pat
dry with a clean tea towel and
arrange on a platter.
Peel and quarter eggs. Arrange
them on and around asparagus.
Whisk mustard into shallot mixture,
then slowly whisk in olive oil (it won’t
completely emulsify, but the mixture
should thicken). Stir in cornichon
olive mixture and parsley. Taste
dressing and adjust with salt and
pepper; spoon over eggs
and asparagus